DHS volleyball drops 2 at Cheyenne Mountain

Day 2 at the Cheyenne Mountain Tournament in Colorado Springs, the Durango High School volleyball team drew some good cards, but couldn’t put together the right hand.

The Demons lost to Valor Christian in three sets (25-15. 25-16, 25-14), then to Windsor in four (28-26, 25-16, 15-25, 25-14).

“They’re both very good, so it was just a matter of who showed up to play (Saturday),” DHS senior hitter McKenna Franzen said in a phone interview with The Durango Herald. “It just wasn’t in the cards for us (Saturday).”

Against Valor Christian, Franzen said the Demons struggled with receiving serves, so “we weren’t able to use our super-quick offense like we usually like to.”

In that match, Franzen led with 11 kills, and Hannah Quick added five.

On defense, Kennedy Clark had seven digs, followed by Franzen’s six.

“Our defense was really great (Saturday),” Franzen said.

She said the match against Valor Christian was just good volleyball that the Demons ended up on the wrong side of.

In that match, Franzen again led with 13 kills, Jessie Brammer had 12 and Bella Bernazzani 10.

“Natalie Bulen did a really good job of spreading the net,” Franzen said of the Demons’ setter.

Clark led in digs with 23, followed by 19 from Gaby Razma.

Day 1 at the Cheyenne Mountain Tournament in Colorado Springs, the Durango High School volleyball team beat a difficult Mesa Ridge team in five, then lost to the defending Class 5A state champion, Chaparral in three.

But it was a good three.

“We knew that was going to be a tough match,” DHS assistant coach Erika Sansoni said. “The girls played well.”

On second thought, better than well: “That’s the best we’ve played all year.”

Chaparral defeated DHS 25-17, 25-15, 26-24.

“All around, the girls played really well,” Sansoni said. “Our outside hitters did a good job of putting the ball down.

“The back row played really well; not much hit the floor.

“The middles did a good job of closing the block and directing the ball where we wanted it to go on our D,” Sansoni said.

Franzen led the Demons with 22 kills and 16 digs in their 25-22, 25-20, 15-25, 26-24 win over Mesa Ridge, and she again led the team with 14 kills and 12 digs against Chaparral.

DHS will play Valor Christian and a team to be determined in its second match Saturday and third and fourth matches of the Demons’ regular-season ending tournament in Colorado Springs.